Cheap SACD Player or wait for DVD Audio?


Do I understand there is a new Sony player for a reasonable price? Has anyone auditioned or purchased this unit? I heard the $5000 one and thought it looked and sounded great but found the price tag a bit steep given the number of titles available. I would love advice from any gurus on this format
melllowmanca9f

Showing 2 responses by joe_coherent

All the junk I have read from audiophiles in this forum and in AudioAsylum (ugh) about SACD make me wonder about this hobby. It is unbelievably clear that most SACD players suck because their analog stages are complete junk, as a poster above highlited. Regular well recorded CDs on a good redbook CD player from Muse (also plays DAD/DVD), Metronome, Ayre, Wadia, etc sound 100x better than SACDs on the pithy Sony SCD1 with its fake balanced outputs. Not to mention that there are genuine question marks about SACD technology. I for one do not intend to take even a passing look at SACDs until some decent players are produced.
Look, don't get me wrong, dynamic range is a great thing... but I wonder which one of you has a speaker with a dynamic range over 110 dB ? Or a room that can handle the difference between ppp and fff ? Probably none. On the other hand the analog stages in these players make them sound like muck. Yes, you can catch a glimpse of greatness lying around the corner, but you can never reach it. wITH NEW PLAYERS...PERHAPS. fOR NOW, THE BEST DIGITAL SOUND i CAN ACHIEVE IN MY SYSTEM IS WITH A 24/96 RECORDED dvd-a FROM cHESKY. bY THE WAY, i AM PRETY DISSAPOINTED THAT cHESKY IS JUMPING INTO THE HYPE BANDWAGON AND BOTH (I) ENDORSING AUDIOASYLUM AND (II) PRODUCING SACDS.. (Sorry about the caps, but I'm too tired to fix it now).